Human Toxicology student Rachel Crawford was a NIH National Research Service Award predoctoral fellowship for her project “Cardiotoxicity of Catecholamine Metabolism by Monoamine Oxidase with Obesity.”

Her research examines the enzyme monoamine oxidase in the heart. This enzyme metabolizes adrenaline and noradrenaline, producing toxic molecules that can damage heart cells. Recent work in the field has linked monoamine oxidase to several heart diseases. While its role in heart disease is well established, exactly what happens at the cellular level to cause the disease is still not fully understood. Crawford’s work aims to uncover the mechanisms underlying the toxicity of monoamine oxidase and its metabolites in the heart.

The success rate for these predoctoral grants is only one in seven.

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